End of the Road

To part or not to part?

I brought my trusty "iron horse" to have its wheels checked by my favourite bicycle shop guy because it seemed to wobble at high speeds ( I am sure it is not because of my weight :p). After aligning the tyres, he looked me in the eye and said, "Your wheel bearings are going……you have probably about 6 months."
Those words seemed surreal. I looked at him in disbelief and said, "How can that be? She still rides well……still rolls very fast and smooth." He told me the parts could not be changed as the wheel hub was already out of production. I would need to change the whole wheel set. That day, I left a bicycle shop a sad person. This is unusual as I usually leave happy, mostly because I usually buy something new from the shop each time I am there. Yes, I think my friendly bicycle shop guy likes me that way too. Hahaha.
This encounter was about 3 months ago. I have not been back to the shop since but have been giving a lot of thought to whether I should just change the wheel set or change the whole bike.
This bicycle holds wonderful memories. It started out as my son's bicycle when he was a teenager back in 2004 and over the years, as my son moved on to a road bike, this bicycle was abandoned and left to rust. About 5 years ago, I decided to do some off road riding and sent this bicycle for a complete overhaul. It cost a tidy sum but the bike was given a new lease of life. It has seen its fair share of off-road tracks over the years - Bukit Timah, Pulau Ubin and Tampines. Then the inevitable happened. I became too old for off road biking and decided to take to the urban jungle. This time, it was I who abandoned "iron horse" for a carbon fibre road bike. She was sleek, fast and responsive. After several close shaves on the road, I decided to give up my road bike and I once again looked to "iron horse". After changing the tyres from the knobbly off road type to slicks, she was good to go. I took her out to torment the park connectors of Singapore. She still rides like a charm.
She has her quirks. For example, when I need to change my  gear up, I need to flick the gear lever twice. I do not have this problem when I change down. She has her geriatric quirks but that's character :)
I must admit that one of the factors which contributed to my mixed feelings about this bike is the anticipation that I could get a full carbon fibre replacement. Maybe she will go faster and will definitely be lighter. There are many choices out there. Admittedly, I have been looking around abit but have not found the right one. It looks like "iron horse" has left very big shoes for my next bike to fill.
To part or not to part…..that is the question :)